


Cogs in a Steel Heart

by Justghostingby



Series: Warmth and Steel [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Varian and the Seven Kingdoms, tangled the series
Genre: Cyrus listens to Hugo complain for chapters, Finding Family, Gen, He gets better, M/M, baby Hugo is the literal worst, child abuse referenced
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24331849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justghostingby/pseuds/Justghostingby
Summary: Cyrus could think of a hundred other things a thug minion could do, each one a hundred times more fitting for someone of his skill set than babysitting. But Donella needs someone to take Hugo’s reports, and Cyrus needs the money, so here he is, in the cold and the wind, listening to Hugo gripe. And maybe he is kind of enjoying listening to Hugo complain about having to make friends of all things. Just a bit though.
Relationships: Hugo & Cyrus (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms), Hugo/Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)
Series: Warmth and Steel [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829737
Comments: 34
Kudos: 123





	1. Introductions

Cyrus liked to consider himself a pretty normal guy. Sure, he beat people up for a living, but hey, it was honest work and that was precious hard to come by in this economy. He went home to his loving wife, Mona, and a tiny apartment worth far less than the angry landlord demanded just like everyone else. As far as thugs went, he was pretty decent, never roughing someone up more than was necessary to get the point across, always paying his guild fees on time, keeping trouble out of the neighborhood of work so his neighbors’ kids could play outside safely.

It was that kind of attitude that had gotten him assigned to Donella in the first place. She was notorious for having thugs quit on her like clockwork, and the guild was running out of thugs to send her. Eventually the exasperated guild master had called Cyrus into his office, placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “Cyrus, you’re the most personable thug I got. If you can’t handle this crazy lady, we’re dropping her, solid gold pay or not.”

It hadn’t been easy, but here he was, six years later, holding the record for the longest lasting employee of Donella. And what did it get him? He pulled his arms around himself as the cold of the forest swept through him. Stuck following behind some stupid kids on a stupid quest, way past company time. He didn’t even get to interact with them! No intimidation or anything!

No, that privilege rested with the boy he was waiting on, whose report he would have to write up like some common secretary. The boy who had gotten him into this in the first place. Hugo. His lips twisted briefly into a frown before he sighed.

He missed Mona. She would know what to say to make this all fall into perspective. He hoped the money he had sent was enough to deal with the new landlord knocking on her door, and that she was enjoying the stew he so loved in his absence. It's kind of funny to think that just yesterday those had been his only worries.

\--------------------------

Today was the day! He was going to do it! Going to ask for the raise he and Mona so desperately needed. It was long overdue, considering how he was already a senior employee.

There was only one other employee that could come close to rivaling him that title. His eyes slid to the side where Hugo slouched as he fiddled with some sort of strange contraption. Hugo had technically been here longer than he had, but he didn’t quite count. Or at least his skills made him too hard to replace, otherwise that attitude would have gotten him kicked out ages ago.

Case and point. Hugo flipped the contraption into the air as Donella entered the room. “One totem, freshly stolen from a group of amateurs, as requested.” He caught it and held it up with a flourish.

“Don’t play with that!” Donella snapped. “It's worth more than you could ever dream!”

Oh good. Cyrus thought. That means she could afford to raise his salary, and he could ask without any trace of guilt in his conscience. He’d put so much time and effort into working here, he deserved it. And with the new landlord who kept raising the rent he and Mona certainly needed it.

Hugo rolled his eyes and set it on her desk with a clunk. Her own eyes narrowed. but Hugo seemed not to care. “Seems kinda boring for a supposed treasure, but hey, if the rich will pay, why not collect?” He checked his nails.

“Foolish child!” Donella snapped. Cyrus held himself still under the anger in her voice. A good thug is never intimidated after all. Hugo tried the same, but a slight wince gave him away. “This is one key to the eternal library! With it we can find wisdom beyond our wildest dreams!”

“An eternal library?” Hugo’s ears pricked up. “Like that nonsense those amateurs were going on about?”

“What do you mean?” Donella’s anger rearranged itself on her face into a guarded curiosity.

“Oh you know, they were going on about completing some research, looking in a book, that kind of thing.” Hugo shrugged and leaned back against the wall. Cyrus watched Donella’s eyes sharpen as they followed his movements. He had something she wanted, and he knew it.

Cyrus held back a sigh. He knew this song and dance far too well. And if the last six years of working with these two had taught him anything, it was that he was never going to get out of this meeting now. Not when Hugo had a chance to show off.

And Mona was making his favorite stew for dinner tonight too.

“Book?” Donella said, and started asking questions. Cyrus tuned them out in favor of dreaming of Mona’s special stew, complete with a heavy broth and potatoes. How he hoped there would be potatoes in it this week, they were getting more and more expensive.

“...Cyrus will follow along behind, and you will report to him every week.” Cyrus heard Donella say.

“What?” Hugo protested. “I don’t need a babysitter.” He crossed his arms.

What? Cyrus wanted to chime in. He wasn’t sure what exactly they had been talking about but any kind of trip was way out of his pay grade. The cost of hotels alone, and what was he going to tell Mona? This is why no one wants to work for you, he grumbled in his head.

Donella continued on, oblivious to the anger of her employee. “This mission is far too important to risk you screwing it up Hugo. I need Cyrus there to retrieve you and the book when things go wrong.”

Cyrus grit his teeth as he caught Hugo’s face fall for a fraction of a second before the perfect mask was back in place. A twinge of something sharp and protective filled his gut at the sight. Great move boss, he wanted to say. The mission hasn’t even started yet and you're already turning your team against each other. Do you even know how to do your own job?

“Fine,” Hugo straightened. “I’ll get going, right now in fact.” He shot Cyrus a smirk and Cyrus felt the strange emotion evaporate, replaced by annoyance. “Coming Cyrus?”

“Only if I get a raise,” Cyrus grunted. Wow, that was a lot blunter than he meant it to be. Mona would throw a fit. But hey, it’s not like she had another minion on call right now, and if he was going to be dragged across the country he should at least get paid more for it.

\-----------------

He still can't believe Donella actually gave him that raise. She hadn’t even blinked before signing the check and sending it off to Mona. She must want this eternal library very, very badly. Which was great for her, but less great for Cyrus, who had to stand her in the cold and wind and wait for Hugo to somehow miraculously convince a group he’d robbed and stolen from to let him join.

In the privacy of his own mind, Cyrus half wanted to see him fail. See him finally learn the consequences to being a jerk to everyone around him. But that would not be good for the mission, which would make Donella very, very mad. Meaning that Cyrus would kiss his raise goodbye at best, and would be out of a job at worst. Which given how long it took to find a new thug job even with the guild, and the new landlord’s rates, was not good for him and Mona.

“And for Hugo,” a voice that sounded suspiciously like Mona’s whispered in his ear. “You at least get to go home when Donella gets mad. He has to live there.”

He shook his head. That was easy for Mona to say. She’d never met Hugo, never experienced all the horrible treatment he gave to everyone around him.

\----------

On his first day Donella had introduced him to Hugo he hadn’t known what to think of this gangly child standing awkwardly beside her. He looked like an overgrown puppy, still not used to his bigger size as he stumbled along beside Donella. It had reminded him of the kids in his own neighborhood to be honest, who thought they were tough when they stole a treat from the local market.

Cyrus had almost relaxed. Almost. Then the boy flashed him a razor sharp smile as he felt a sharp pain in his side, and he realized the boy had stuck him with a tack without even getting close. He’d grit his teeth and ignored the pain, it was too little to stop a proper thug, through the rest of Donella’s introduction.

Then Donella had turned her back, claiming she had better things to do and not to disturb her or leave his post. As her heels echoed down the hall, the boy coiled like a snake as he turned his full attention to Cyrus.

“So you’re from the Thug guild right?” A smile played on his lips but did not reach his eyes.

Cyrus grunted in agreement, eyeing the boy warily as he began to circle around him.

“What’s that cute little motto they put on all their cards?” He ran a hand up by Cyrus’s shoulders. Which he probably meant to be intimidating, but Cyrus could tell by his touch that there wasn’t any real muscle to back it up. “All the muscle and little...?” he trailed off and looked at Cyrus expectantly.

The word he was looking for was “brain.” but Cyrus said nothing. No thug worth his salt would respond to such juvenile taunts.

“I can’t hear you,” Hugo leaned forward, a hand over his ear. Suddenly an uncontrollable urge to scratch his shoulders filled his skin. He reached out instinctively to them to scratch.

Hugo laughed. “Amazing isn’t it? Itching powder of my own design! And that’s not all it does!” As Cyrus’s fingers reached his shoulders, they held fast. He tugged, but they did not move.

“Sticking solution!” Hugo held out a bottle dangling in one gloved hand. “You see,-” he gave a mock bow, “-you may have a lot of muscle, but I have a lot of brains.” He raised his head, eyes narrow. “And brain beats brawn. Always.”

“Hugo!” Donella’s voice called out.

Hugo straightened, all traces of malice gone. “Well on that note, I have to be off! Lovely to work with you!” Hugo dashed off, leaving Cyrus standing, arms still stuck.

\------------------

The memory faded from Cyrus’s eyes as his ears caught the sound of rapid footsteps. Then the footsteps stopped. For a few seconds all was quiet, until a great cloud of purple smoke came from between the trees. Hugo stepped grandly from it, one hand raised. “Infiltration accomplished in record time, as expected.” He gave a little bow, then stood up and dusted off his hands. “I’ll bet you regret coming along now, don’t you?”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “They let you in?” That quickly? And let him wander alone over to Cyrus without anyone following? Something wasn’t right here. He tensed, glancing around for any signs of a trap or an ambush. Leave it to Hugo to walk them both into trouble on the first day.

Hugo rolled his eyes at his antics. “Contrary to what you may believe, I do know how to make people like me. I am a professional thief after all.” He placed a hand on his puffed up chest.

You are not nearly as good as you think you are, Cyrus thought. Half the time the only reason that works is because the nobility are so used to being flattered they don’t notice your sarcasm. Which is not a good sign for your new team. “Tell me everything,” he said.

Hugo deflated. “Everything?” he whined. Cyrus raised his other eyebrow. “Fine!” Hugo sighed dramatically as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll start from the beginning.”

He explained how he’d caught them on the road. How he’d pointed out how useless they were and offered them both the totem and his help guiding them through. How they had welcomed him into the party.

“Just like that?” Cyrus frowned. There was no way it was that simple. Even just getting Mona to go on a date with him had taken weeks of work, and he’d had mad good looks and a personality that wasn’t made of fish oil on his side.

“Well,” Hugo laced his fingers. “The firecracker kid got a little mad, saying they weren’t idiots, and how people like me never change, blah blah.” That’s what you call a little? Cyrus’s frown deepened.

“But Goggles stuck out his hand and welcomed me on to the team!” Hugo added hastily. “And he’s the leader, so the kid didn’t press the issue.”

“He heard all of that, and he deliberately chose to let you join?” Cyrus’s eyebrows arched together in disbelief. After what had to be the worst recommendation letter in all of history, a.k.a. advice from anyone who’d talked to Hugo for five minutes?

“What can I say?” Hugo laughed as he struck a pose. “I guess I’m just irresistible.”

Right, and pigs flew. Hugo was charming, sure, but in a slippery way that only really fooled people once. Cyrus was half convinced that he’d have to skip town once he ran out of nobles to schmooze and trick. To let him join, after he’d stolen from them, when his companion was so against him...

There were only three reasons he could think for such strange behavior. The first, that Hugo was right and this ‘Goggles’ had just taken a liking to him. Teenagers could be stupid when it came to hormones. But these kids were smart enough to complete a trial Hugo hadn’t been able to do, and so were probably smart enough to know better.

The second, and far more likely version, was that ‘Goggles’ was planning to double cross Hugo before Hugo got the chance to double cross him. In which case, Cyrus had better stick close by and get Hugo out before he paid for his arrogance.

But there was a third option, rarer it's true, that could be at play. One Mona had understood so well. What had she said all those years ago?

\----------------

After their first meeting, Hugo had continued to be a constant source of aggravation for Cyrus. He seemed to lurk around every corner, with some taunting words and some new prank. He’s lost track of how many stink bombs the boy had thrown at his head, or times he’d frozen him to the ground. He’d even stopped sitting down at lunch, as every seat he tried had either a tack or customized fart cushion, or worse.

Today the brat had somehow turned all his shoes to jelly, and he’d had to stumble home in weird, slippery shoes like some kind of drunk monkey. Mona had caught him in her arms as he’d fallen through the door, and listened as he cried and complained about all the problems Hugo was causing, and how he didn’t know what he’d done to make him hate him so much and wanted to quit like everyone else.

Mona had held him and listened. For a while they just sat there, until Mona tentatively said, “Maybe it’s not about you.”

He raised his head from her chest and looked up at her round face. “What?”

She bit her lip, the way she did when she was struggling to find the words to explain. “Maybe he’s mean to you, not because of anything you’ve done, but because of something he’s gone through. It could be a lot of reasons, but I’ll bet he’s not used to thinking of adult men as friendly, and just jumped to conclusions about you without getting to know you as a person.”

“So I should just put up with this because he’s not really angry at me?” Cyrus cried, searching her face with pleading eyes.

“Of course not,” she shook her head. “You don’t have to put up with anything. In fact you probably should quit tomorrow. We’ll figure out a way to make ends meet. I’m just saying that he doesn’t hate you, because he’s never met the real you.”

Cyrus had buried his head back in her chest, a pout on his lips. But those words stuck with him, and he decided to hang on for one more day.

\----------------

“Maybe it’s not about you,” Cyrus murmured.

“What?” Hugo turned to look at him, a quizzical look in his eyes.

“This ‘Goggles,” Cyrus elaborated. How would Mona put it? “He’s letting you in because of something that’s happened in his past, not because of anything you did to win him over.”

“You mean he’s naive?” Hugo rolled his eyes and turned half away.

“That’s one option,” Cyrus crossed his arms.

“Yes, well.” Hugo looked down at his feet. “It’s to our advantage isn’t it? Whatever his reasoning is, if it gets me in, I’m in.” He shot Cyrus a tight smile.

Cyrus nodded his head. Because it was true. They weren’t here to make friends or psychoanalyze strangers. They were here on a mission for the crazy lady herself, and that wasn’t something either of them could take lightly.

Especially not Hugo.


	2. Building Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hugo struggles to adjust and Cyrus gets the tea. A.k.a. Hugo’s got a lot of complaining to do, and Cyrus is having way to much fun watching him struggle at the whole ‘teammates’ thing.

The next time Hugo came to report to Cyrus, he and his new team had already completed the water trial. Now most people would be a bit more excited after completing an ancient trial that lay incomplete for centuries. Or maybe just twenty years? Cyrus wasn’t paying attention when Donella explained that. Point was, the way Cyrus saw it Hugo should have been happy, or at least proud.

He was not.

“It’s like pulling teeth with these people!” Hugo tugged at his own hair for emphasis. “I don’t know how I’m going to survive!”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow as the usually calm and in control Hugo proceeded to have as near to a tantrum as he’d ever gotten, ranting and waving his hands like a madman. It was almost...funny.

“The firecracker keeps interrupting me when I’m working, and posturing about catching me in my ‘evil’ scheme-” And heavens above, Hugo actually made air quotes. Cyrus hadn’t realized he even knew what those were, “-as if I’d ever be stupid enough to make something to defeat them in the middle of their camp, what kind of rookie does he think I am? All he’s really doing is getting underfoot when I am trying to help! I need this to work out too! He’s just...uugh!” He threw his hands in the air with such violence it sent him stumbling backwards into a tree.

Cyrus bit the inside of his lip as Hugo sprang back up to punch the tree and scream at it. Thugs don’t smile on the job, and never let it be said Cyrus was not a professional. But he’d never seen Hugo so completely frazzled by simple human interaction. It was karmic really, considering everything Hugo’s usual interactions with people.

Eventually Hugo’s strength gave out and he leaned his forehead against the tree, looking the picture of defeat. And really, if two kids was all it took to wipe him out, Cyrus should have recommended him for babysitting to his neighbors ages ago. Would be good for him.

Hugo let out a deep sigh as his shoulders sagged. “And then there’s Goggles,” he said as he turns himself around to face Cyrus. “He’s a whole ‘nother problem. Always trying to compare notes, talk about “how my day was,” showing off to the kid...” Hugo crosses his arms across his chest. “And he’s not even that good at it! Like half the things he makes blow up! But when I point out his errors, which could get us blown up mind you, he gets all passive-aggressive and tries to do it his way and like come on! I’m not going to die in an explosion because he’s too stubborn to take the help he obviously needs!” Hugo huffed and turned his head away.

“If they are such a hindrance, why not just take both the totems and complete the trials by yourself?” Cyrus points out. As much as he was loving this, they did have a schedule to keep, and the sooner they were done, the sooner they could both go home. He’d get to see Mona in person again, instead of the picture tucked safely against his heart and her daily letters.

Hugo shifted from foot to look, hugging his arms close. “They might not be completely useless in trials,” Hugo grumbled. Then jumped up. “Not that I don’t do most of the work! like 95 percent really, they couldn't do it without me at all.” He ran his fingers through his hair and refused to meet Cyrus’s eyes.

Oh no. Cyrus knew that look. That’s the ‘I screwed up look.’ But surely it couldn’t be too bad, the trial was complete after all.

“But they might have helped a bit at the end there, especially with the final test,” Hugo finished. “I didn’t see through the enchantment like at all, but Goggles,” Hugo sighed. “He pushed it off like it was nothing and dragged me and Firecracker out all by himself.”

Oh. That wasn’t so bad. Why had he been so upset about that? Donella had told him to infiltrate for a reason. His mind flashed back to the first mission he’d ever had with the kid.

\------------------

“What did you do?” Hugo screamed in his face, half soaked and feral as a wild cat.

“My job,” Cyrus replied as he pushed the body out of his way in the rain soaked street.

“You ruined the job!” Hugo threw a hand down towards the body between them. “It took me months to get him to trust me!”

Cyrus crossed his arms. “He was about to kill you.” Kill didn’t quite cut it. Rip in half was more fitting, and much as Cyrus disliked the kid, the scene of the twig-like body struggling against an iron grip as the man’s expression twisted into one of sadistic delight...

“I had it handled!” Hugo snarled. “I could have stopped him in a hundred different ways!” He shoved a finger in Cyrus’s chest. “Now we’ll never know where the supply was coming from, and it's all because of you!”

Cyrus slowly reached out and pushed the fingers down. Hugo’s expression tightened for a second under his grip. “My orders were to ensure that man was not a threat. He was a threat. Therefore, I did my job.” He let go and Hugo instantly jumped back, clutching his hand close to his heart and eyeing Cyrus with fury in his eyes.

\------------------

“Hmmm,” Cyrus mused. Out of the corner of his eye, Hugo flinched at the sound. “Did you say thank you?” Cyrus asked.

Hugo’s head snapped up. “What?”

“When someone saves you, normally you’re supposed to say thank you,” Cyrus shrugged. “It’s polite.”

Hugo stared at him, mouth hanging open. “I-I totally forgot about that.”

“Might want to give it a shot,” Cyrus pushed off his own tree and started walking away. “See you next week!”

Behind him Hugo let out a very frustrated groan.

\------------------

“And then he goes to the boss, whining about how trigger happy I am. Me!” Cyrus took a sharp swig from his drink, feeling the alcohol burn its way down. “After I saved his life!” He smashed the cup down on the table.

“Hey man, I get it,” Lester gives him a hearty slap on the back. “I served my time with the crazy lady and the brat.”

“He’s something else alright,” Cyrus scowled into his drink. “Like some kind of heartless machine.” He turned to look Lester in his slightly blurry face. “You know his eyes were completely blank when that guy was trying to kill him, it's like he wasn’t even there. Freaky.”

“Maybe the crazy lady made him in the back lab,” Lester jokes. “Explains why he never leaves.”

“Makes sense,” Cyrus’s grip tightened on the handle of his mug. “Robot designed to make thugs miserable.”

“Hey man.” Lester shoved him lightly with his shoulder. “You can always quit like I did.”

“Yeah,” Cyrus took another swig and sighed. “But winter is coming, and Mona and I can’t really afford me outta work right now.”

“That sucks man,” Lester took a sip of his own drink. “Hey!” he slammed the mug down so quickly Cyrus nearly fell out of his seat. “I think I know a guy who can help you!”

Cyrus shook his head as he righted himself on his stool. “You do? What’s his name?”

Lester went cross eyed as he tried to think. “No idea,” he said, and grinned. “But when I do I’ll let you know!”

\--------------------

Hugo’s team had barely crossed the border to the next kingdom by the time it came for Hugo’s next report, a fact that Cyrus hoped would mean it was mercifully short. He was wrong.

Hugo seemed in a better mood as he approached, arms loose and swinging. “I’ve got some good news for the report,” he said with a two fingered salute.

Cyrus grunted, and Hugo took that as an opportunity to launch into an elaborate story about him and Firecracker. Apparently Hairstripe, who Cyrus assumed was Goggles and not the donkey, had suggested Hugo and Firecracker go on an errand for “team bonding.” Hugo had added air quotes around the last two words, and heavens was that going to become a thing?

According to Hugo, the whole trip had been an absolute bore, in some nowhere town where the only building of consequence seemed to be the jailhouse, (A jailhouse Cyrus did not remember being there when he’d passed through) which had quickly turned into an unmitigated disaster when some noisy shopper had tried to steal their ingredient from Hugo’s hands.

“Well I wasn’t going to stand for that,” Hugo rolled his eyes. “But the shopkeeper was inhuman, I’m telling you. I couldn’t schmooze anything more than a promise not to sell it until sunset, and then only to the party with the most money by the end of the day.”

“How unfeeling,” Cyrus states dryly.

“I know right?” Hugo huffed as he placed a hand on his chest. “No one can resist my schmoozing!” Where was I? Oh yes. Then Firecracker insisted we work for the extra money.” He spat the word work like it was an insult. “Instead of just scamming some quick cash. I pointed out we couldn’t exactly get a job, and he said we could just sell firecrackers.”

Oh that’s going to make this story confusing Cyrus thought. Firecracker selling Firecrackers, it sounds like a kids rhyme Mona would read to the kids next door.

“Meanwhile our dear commentators were doing absolutely nothing with their time, even as we started getting quite a few customers. So naturally I schmoozed up to them to figure out what was going on,” Hugo flipped his hair dramatically.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. Some confidence after it failed you so miserably earlier in the day, he didn’t say.

“But the blind fools were completely unimpressed,” Hugo pouted. “And then they tried to frame me for thievery. Me!”

The sheer look of outrage on Hugo’s face made the corner of Cyrus’s mouth twitch up. So much for schmoozing.

“I escaped, naturally.” Hugo waved his hand in the air. “But Firecracker got caught when they accused him of stealing their fireworks.”

At which point Hugo derailed the story to rant about how he didn’t really want to save the kid, really! But there was no way Hairstripe would let him stay if he didn’t bring him back, so he really didn’t have a choice, blah, blah, blah.

Honestly it sounded more like Hugo was trying to justify it to himself after the first thirty minutes, but who was Cyrus to judge?

“The point is,” Hugo said as he finally stopped ranting, “I went to the jail as the sun was rapidly sinking in the sky, certain we were going to lose. Only to see the jailhouse before me explode into a gazillion pieces as Firecracker came running out the side.”

That explains why I didn’t see the jail house, Cyrus thought, and why there was a burning pile of rubble while I was walking through.

“Firecracker was pretty happy to see me,” Hugo smirked. “Apparently he didn’t think I would actually come back for him. I asked how he managed to blow up the building when the police had taken all his supplies. Turns out exploding moss grows on old brick. Who knew right?”

“Who indeed,” Cyrus said.

“And this,” Hugo raised a single finger. “Is where I succeeded in forwarding my infiltration goal. You see, I proposed a fiendishly clever plan to get revenge on those who robbed us, and get the prize, and you know what? Yong actually listened to me! He totally backed me up when I told them the exploding moss was a rare alchemic ingredient, and didn’t even lose his cool when one of them held a knife to his neck and demanded we tell them how to use it!”

Hugo threw back his head and laughed at the memory. “The look on his face when it exploded in his hands is one I will treasure for years,” he gasped as he wiped away a tear.

“And exploding a rival helps with your infiltration how?” Cyrus crossed his arms.

“I’m building trust,” Hugo waved the question away.

“Blowing people up doesn’t seem like the most trustworthy habit,” Cyrus pointed out. Especially for someone who is trying not to get himself caught by unstable alchemists willing to destroy whole buildings.

“Oh please, the kid blows up everything in his path if he can help it. I’m just speaking his language. Besides,” Hugo’s shoulders straightened. “I can’t keep up the goody-two shoes act twenty-four seven. I’d go mad. But this way, I’m causing problems for them. So they’ll see me as an asset they can exploit and keep me around.”

Assets for exploitation weren’t typically sent on feel-good-get-along missions with teammates, Cyrus didn’t say. No one cares enough to try to make their work life pleasant. He should know. He had worked for Donella for six years. This Hairstripe, or Goggles, or whatever his real name was, seemed to genuinely want Hugo to feel at home, despite his less than stellar introduction.

But there was no sense pointing that out to Hugo, he thought as he watched the boy preen under the weight of his own cleverness. Not when they had a mission to complete. The less Hugo noticed, the less it would hurt when he inevitably had to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one tell Hugo he accidentally used Yong's name. He'd be way too embarrassed. 
> 
> Second story is from the seven kingdoms field trips I created, because I needed more content and why not use what I've already got? Let me know if it didn't come across clearly.


	3. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nuru shows up and Hugo has issues. Cyrus never thought he’d have to offer sound life advice to an angsty teenager, especially not this angsty teenager.

The day after the air totem was acquired, Hugo was nearly forty minutes late to his report. He had been so late in fact, that Cyrus had considered going to look for him to make sure he had actually survived the trial and didn’t need Cyrus to scrape him off a trap or something. But just as he’d taken the first step Hugo appeared around a distant tree, stomping his feet and mumbling to himself.

Cyrus felt a bit confused. In their last meet up, Hugo had been begrudgingly pleased with the cleverness of his companions. How badly had the mission gone to make him so angry again?

Hugo kept muttering to himself for a bit, using words like “princess,” and “star-dress” with a vicious tone of voice that Cyrus knew all too well.

“Let me guess,” he sighed as Hugo’s attention snapped to him. “You’ve got a new traveling companion?”

Hugo’s expression went slack with surprise, as if he couldn’t figure out how Cyrus could recognize the very same voice Hugo used whenever someone new was introduced to his life after knowing him for six years. But his frustration won out.

“Who does she think she is?” Hugo threw up his hands. “Princess of the Air Kingdom thinks she can just waltz into our group and schmooze her way in, and everyone was just so willing to take her. She’s just sooo clever with her star-dress and her navigation skills, and oh she’s so fun Hugo!” Can’t you try to be nice?” He held up his hands in a pleading matter and batted his eyes. Cyrus got the distinct impression he was mimicking someone specific.

“And then,” Hugo gave a sharp kick to the trunk of the tree and tried bravely not to wince as his foot collided badly. “Then she has the nerve to turn around and say she doesn’t trust ‘my type’ in her kingdom. My type!” Hugo whirled around at Cyrus. “Exactly what is wrong with my type?”

Cyrus eyed the uniform of steel and spikes. Back home, he would hardly stand out. But in this strange country of light clothes and bright colors he stuck out like a sore thumb. At least he was scrawny so most people didn’t run to the other side of the road when he passed like when they saw Cyrus. He wasn’t sure how to explain it all to Hugo though.

But Hugo seemed to interpret his silence as well as if he’d spoken aloud, raising a hand to subconsciously touch his spiked goggles. “Well, at least I dress practically. No one would jump someone dressed like this.” Cyrus gave a nod, because this was true.

Hugo seemed to brighten up at that. “Yeah, I’m practical! It’s not like I’m Goggles, with a gazillion glass balls with different alchemic reactions all glowing on a sash and bringing out his big blue eyes.” Hugo’s own eyes glazed over. “I wonder if I could persuade him to dress up in green and spikes, it would really look striking against his skin, but it would probably kill him,-” he shook his head like he was trying to clear it, “-and Firecracker has a literal firecracker strapped to his back!” He finished, cheeks slightly redder than normal.

Cyrus blinked. What was that all about?

“The mission!” Hugo squawked. “Let me tell you about the mission!” He waved his hands in the air. “She kept getting in my way, being all suspicious. And Firecracker’s old suspicion came up too, and I think they were considering ditching me.” Hugo bit his lip. “But don’t worry! Goggles stuck up for me, and I proved my worth in that journey was far more than a silly star-dress!” He puffed up his chest, then suddenly sagged back down as if all the air had disappeared. “But she demanded to come so she could “save her people,-” Hugo air quotes and yup, that’s definitely a thing he does now, “-and Goggles is too much of a bleeding heart to turn her away, so I’m stuck with her.”

He glared at the tree like he wanted to kick it again. Cyrus felt like he should speak up to save it from said kick. Not that it hurt the tree, but just on principle. “So she’s a constant now,” he said.

“Yes,” Hugo crossed his arms.

“So you’re going to have to get her to trust you too,” Cyrus pointed out. Hugo’s mouth fell open, outrage written on all his features.

“What?” he yelled.

Cyrus shrugged. “She’s gonna be sticking around. You have to make nice to keep their trust, therefore, you have to be nice to her.”

“Stop trying to be smart. It’s not a good look for you,” Hugo turned away. “Besides,” he added, voice as petulant as a toddlers. “I was in the group first.”

He pouts and wow, Cyrus suddenly has flashbacks to his neighbors’ kid, black eye and the same pout on his lips, complaining about a new kid on the playground who his best friend had befriended. What had Mona said to him?

“You were in the group first, so you’ve got to be extra nice, because it’s hard coming in late.” Hugo opened his mouth to protest but Cyrus held up a hand. Taking a stab in the dark, he added, “And wouldn’t that be what Goggles would want you to do?”

Hugo closed his mouth and looked down, and yup, Cyrus had hit the nail on the head. Looks like Hugo wanted to remain in Goggles’ good graces. Cyrus filed that information away into a box to think about never, and finished with, “just give it a shot.”

“Fine,” Hugo rolled his eyes. “I’ll try to be nice.”

\-------------------

“That’s the guy!” Lester pushed Cyrus’s shoulder as they stepped into a dingy, low-lit pub. “Right over there! I told you I’d remember!”

Cyrus struggled to adjust to the lighting as a large grey blob stood up and moved towards them.

“Lester,” the great grey blob said. “Did you come to accept my offer?”

“Naw man,” Lester laughed. “I quit. But Cyrus here, he took my place, he might want it.”

“Oh?” Grey blob turned to look at Cyrus and in the dim light Cyrus could make out a thick grey cloak around his shoulders and a long jagged scar over one eye. “So you’d like my help with the brat?”

“That depends,” Cyrus crossed his arms. “On what exactly your help entails.”

“Nothing fatal, if that’s what you’re worried about,” the grey blob man shrugged his shoulders. “Just a little lesson, to keep the brat in line. Off company time of course.”

Well that didn’t sound suspicious at all. What did this man think he was, some naive lamb from the heights? He frowned.

Grey blob man sighed. “Look,” he said. “I used to have the position you’re in right now. Tried to make nice to the brat. And do you know what he did?” Grey blob man took a seat, arms resting on the table behind him.

“What?” the crowd in the pub asked, in the drunken grumble of people who've heard the story many, many times before.

“He left me this.” Grey blob man raised a finger and gently traced the scar down his face.

The pub erupted in growls and dissent. Grey blob man seemed to be enjoying it, preening under their attention. But Cyrus was not impressed. Something about the way the man would turn towards the angriest voices set his teeth on edge.

“But you know what I did?” he said as he leaned forward. “I didn’t run! I made that kid behave, right up until that crazy lady fired me.”

The crowd wolf-whistles and cackles in agreement. Even Lester seemed taken in. Cyrus felt a sharp niggling in the back of his mind, as the man’s eyes locked on him, cold and grey. He didn’t know why, by all accounts he should be lining up to ask this man his secret. But right now, his instincts were screaming at him to leave.

“So what will it be? Do you want my help?” The grey blob man held out a hand, and the tilt of his smile was sharp as a wolf’s.

Cyrus eyed that smile, then swung a glance at Lester, smiling placid and trusting as a sheep. Idiot wouldn’t be any help here. But then again.

Cyrus shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not in the habit of taking help from someone whose name and guild I don’t know.”

Grey tipped his head back and laughed, a joyous, contagious sound, and that strange feeling is back, screaming in the back of Cyrus’s head. “Of course, of course. I wouldn’t trust a stranger either. I haven’t got a guild, but if you want to get to know me, come by the bar again some time, I’ll be here.”

“And as for the name,” he shot Cyrus a wink. “It’s Grimoire.”

\-------------------

Nice it seemed, was far harder for Hugo to put into practice than it was to promise. But hey, what else was new?

Conversations between them involving the new companion Hugo dubbed Princess were usually short and full of complaint and phrases like:

“She wants to know why I’m going off alone all the time, like I don’t know, maybe I’m going off to scream in the woods about how much I don’t like you?”

or

“And then she and Firecracker went off to some stupid star rocks, but I noped out of that and spent the whole day with Goggles. _Alone._ He apologized and I nodded along but deep down, I wasn’t sorry.

or

“My spikes are totally acceptable fashion! Really! She has stars on her dress! Who is she to judge?”

“Stars are always in fashion,” Cyrus pointed out to Hugo’s anguished screams.

At this point, Cyrus was beginning to wonder if Hugo knew the meaning of the word nice. Surely he’d at least heard of the concept. Maybe this whole disaster would work better if he told Hugo to pretend she was an animal instead of a new teammate. Hugo got along with animals. Mechanical ones at least.

\------------------

“Shush,” Hugo crooned to the little mechanical mouse stuck in the barbed wire. It gave a pitiful cry as it struggled. Hugo carefully tugged at the wire with his fingers, easing it open for the contraption to better move. In its fear, it bit his finger, tiny mechanical teeth sinking to the bone.

Cyrus fully expected him to pull back and fling the creature away, but Hugo merely grit his teeth and kept silently working with his other hand to untangle the final wires.

“There you go,” he said as the mechanical mouse finally wiggled free of the trap. “Got a bit of a spring lock on your jaw don’t you.” Hugo carefully lifted it up, jaw still clamped around his finger, and ran a gentle finger down its back. “Don’t you worry. I’ll get you fixed up good as new.”

Cyrus coughed politely into his fist. Hugo froze, then turned to look at him, eyes hard as stone. “Leave,” he snapped, spare hand curled protectively around the little mouse.

Cyrus left.

\------------------

Alas, Cyrus thought as the memory faded. The princess was not made of mechanical parts, and thus very unlikely to ever get on Hugo’s good side. It seems whatever fluke had happened with Goggles and Firecracker did not extend to her.

So when Hugo came back smiling, (honest to god smiling, when was the last time Cyrus had seen him actually smile?) and ecstatic to tell about an adventure at a ball that the Princess had invited him too, to say Cyrus was surprised would be an understatement.

“You went to a ball. You.” he stated as Hugo leaned back against a tree.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hugo flipped his hair. “I’ll have you know I clean up handsomely.”

“You hate nobles.” Cyrus pointed out. “Why would you ever go and be around them willingly?” Those fat sods were worse than cockroaches in Cyrus’s humble opinion, and he’d always been so glad his large bulk meant Hugo had to take on most of the missions that involved interacting with them.

Hugo sniffed. “Goes to show how uncultured you are Cyrus. A ball isn’t a place you go to be with nobles. It’s a place you go to show nobles you’re far better at all their petty goals than they could ever hope to be.”

Cyrus stared at him, uncomprehending.

Hugo sighed. “The food and drink are really good, is that enough for you?”

Cyrus tilted his head, considering. He still didn’t think it was worth putting up with those over-bloated fools, but each to their own. He shrugged.

Hugo rolled his eyes. “The point is, some friend of Princess’s, I don’t know his name, invited us all to come to the festival of love, or something sappy like that.”

Oh, I see where this is going. Cyrus thought as he tried not to smile. And I suppose you spent the whole day with Goggles?

“Princess was a bit embarrassed about taking us, but I never turn down an opportunity to schmooze, and Firecracker was pretty excited about the stargazing show afterwards, something about a star beast? I don’t know.” Hugo shrugged. “The point was, I was quite the hit, had all the guests convinced I was some kind of young lord or something.”

The smile slipped off his face. “Goggles got stuck in some pointless quarrel with the royal engineer of Equis though, so he couldn’t join me. Dragged Yong in too. But I didn’t care.” Hugo straightened. “I was doing fine.”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. He seriously doubted that.

“Better than Princess at any rate,” Hugo crossed his arms. “She was sulking in a corner, apparently her friend’s fiancé was poking fun at how she was sixteen and not engaged. Because sixteen is sooo old.” Hugo rolled his eyes.

“She was pretty bummed out that no one would take her actual accomplishments seriously in light of her love life, and well, I decided to do what a “nice teammate” would do,-” Hugo made air quotes yet again and Cyrus considered how to get him to stop. Seriously, where did he pick this up? “- I offered to be her partner in the lovers’ competition!”

“You-what?” Cyrus blinked at Hugo, who looked incredibly smug.

“Brilliant right?” He tucked his hands in his pockets. “We join as “just friends” and expose how completely fake and pointless all their so-called love really is!”

“I don’t think that’s how that works,” Cyrus says, still trying to wrap his head around the absolute stupidity that was Hugo’s plan. He wished Mona was here, she’d know how to put it delicately. Or she’d just laugh. Probably laugh.

“That’s totally how it works,” Hugo waved Cyrus’s protests away. “And we did pretty good too, all the competitions were really ridiculous, like drinking tea or making flower arrangements. It was hilarious how serious everyone else took it, when we could just get by on the power of alchemy and overacting. Why one time in the flower competition -” he doubled over in a laugh.

Cyrus watched him gasping for breath and wished that he had the ability to read minds. Jokes which made the speaker laugh were rarely as funny delivered as they were in the speakers head.

“-she,” Hugo weased as he pulled himself up right, “she gave them a completely black bouquet to represent my soul, and then spouted some nonsense about how the dark of the flowers represents the night and how I help her shine brighter than a star and the judge was nodding along like he actually bought it!” Hugo started giggling again, clutching his arms tight to his chest to try to stop. “We laughed so hard after he gave us first prize!”

Cyrus bit the inside of his lip. Making fun of nobles was like playing with fire. Even if you get away a few times, eventually you slip up and get burned. Hugo, who spent most of his life schmoozing up to them and ripping them off, really, really out to know this.

“Course then the royal snob from earlier decided to end our fun,” Hugo’s expression sobered. “Apparently she found out I wasn’t noble from her dear fiancé, and pulled up some bogus old law that said that commoners couldn’t participate or something like that.” Hugo rolled his eyes. “Like come on, do they really think commoners care about their stupid little competition?”

Cyrus refrained from pointing out that it seemed like Hugo cared about the stupid competition, if for very different reasons than the rest of the participants. Petty revenge still requires investment after all.

“I told Princess to go on without me,” Hugo shrugged. “Because what says ‘I don’t need a relationship like beating all the couples at their own game?’ But Nuru, -” he shook his head, a strange look of wonder on his face, “-Nuru told them that I was her friend, and that if I couldn’t participate, then neither would she.”

He looked so vulnerable then, eyes wide and confused at the memory, like he couldn’t comprehend why anyone would stick up for him like that. Cyrus wondered if he’d ever had anyone call him a friend before, and to spite a noble no less! He guessed being a princess herself probably meant standing up to a noble didn’t carry the same amount of weight, but still...

Hugo’s expression closed off, like a curtain was pulled down behind his eyes, and the vulnerability was hidden under a look of smug pleasure as he crossed his arms behind his head. “We spent the rest of the time helping Goggles and Firecracker make fireworks to perfectly match the constellations and save the star watching competition from the foggy night, like alchemists do. I naturally snagged the spot beside Goggles. No amount of good camaraderie was going to make me give that up.”

Hiding a growing attachment with another, more obvious and dangerous attachment? Hugo you are losing your touch, Cyrus thought. As his stomach churned uncomfortably.

And between you and me,-” He leaned over to give a mock whisper, “-we even threw in a few new ones of ourselves in the sky.” He giggled then, like messing with a noble’s stargazing competition was the most dastardly thing he could think of to do, which given his track record of petty revenge didn’t even grace the top fifty.

And Cyrus sat and listened as he watched the light in Hugo’s eyes grow as he spoke of his friends and the fireworks they sculpted together. Because what else could you call people who would stick up to a noble woman for you and create pictures of you in the sky?

He’s losing sight of the mission, Cyrus thought in despair. Oh Mona, what am I supposed to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hugo is the worst babysitter ever. 100% do not recommend to sad teenagers, he teaches the exact wrong lesson. At least Nuru had fun.


	4. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus faces the strangest thing this journey has to offer: A crying Hugo. Now if only Cyrus knew how to talk to emotional teens.

There were many, many seemingly impossible events that Cyrus had witnessed in service to Donella. Mechanical mice that came alive, machines with the power to reverse gravity, simple weapons that killed smoother and more effectively than any thug. It was awe inspiring, humbling, and sometimes downright terrifying. But nothing on earth could prepare him for the sight of Hugo crying.

When he’d first entered the woods, looking for Hugo and his daily report, he’d almost turned back as the echoing sobs filled the clearing. But another, wiser voice inside him urged him forward. Compassion, Mona would call it.

“Common Sense,” his grandpa would say. “Never trust a thing crying in the woods unless you're close enough to knock its head from its shoulders.”

Grandpa had been full of old stories and warnings like that, from way back when he’d lived outside the iron city in his childhood. As he’d grown, Cyrus had largely dismissed them as stories intended to scare rambunctious young boys into behaving. But when he saw Hugo there at the center of a clearing, sitting on a log and crying his eyes out, all those so-called stories came rushing back to the forefront of his mind.

After all, a shapeshifting monster trying to lure Cyrus to his death seemed way more believable than Hugo crying.

Even on that day, he’d never...

Hugo gave an extra loud sob as he rocked back and forth. And Cyrus suddenly got the distinct impression that he should get out of here before whatever it was that was mimicking Hugo turned around. Unless it was literally wearing Hugo’s skin. Then Donella would definitely want him to attack and bring whatever was left of Hugo back, regardless of the danger. Heavens above, he did not sign up for anything supernatural.

But backing down now, he knew he’d regret it later. A memory surfaces in his mind. Playing the events of another time he’d decided to leave.

\--------------------

Cyrus sighed as he opened his locker, the ache in his bones begging for rest and relief. He considered stopping by the guild for drinks and a round of complaints, but no. He wrinkled his nose. Lester would be there, and he’d probably try to convince him to go talk to Grimoire, again.

He was stalling, he knew, but something about that man just rubbed him the wrong way. Sure, he’d love to see that brat get what was coming to him, more and more every day. Especially now Donella was out on business for a month, leaving Hugo and Cyrus alone. At least she didn’t put Hugo in charge, but even without authority he’d found ways to make Cyrus’s work life even worse. For example, with no Donella to tell him no, he’d rigged the security system so that Cyrus had to run back and forth looking for an intruder, all day. And that wasn’t even counting the traps he laid for Cyrus to run into.

As if triggered by Cyrus’s own words, the alarm went off. Cyrus rolled his eyes. “Too late brat. I’m off duty.” He grabbed his coat and stepped into the smog filled air. A shadow moved in the corner of his eye, slinking towards the door, but he ignored it in favor of wondering what stew Mona was making tonight.

He wonders if he’d paid more attention then, if he’d have noticed the shadow was far too big to be a raccoon.

\-------------------

He took a hesitant step forward, directly onto a twig. The resulting snap was pretty quiet, all things considered, but it sounded louder than thunder in the small clearing. The thing-that-was-not-Hugo jumped to its feet and was halfway across the clearing before Cyrus so much as blinked. Then it stumbled, foot catching on a root and pulling it gracelessly onto the ground.

The whole tumble looked so normal and not at all like something a scary face-stealing forest creature would do that Cyrus stopped backing slowly away and stared. “Hugo?” he asked hesitantly. “Is that you?”

Hugo ran his hand over his eyes and made a show of dusting his shoulder’s off. “Who else would it be, you imbecile?” His voice was hollow as he made no attempt to rise from his place on the ground, instead pulling his arms around himself.

“Just making sure,” Cyrus shrugged. “Plenty of monsters in woods like these out to steal faces.” He added the last bit more for Hugo’s benefit than his own, expecting the boy to forget whatever made him upset in favor of mocking Cyrus about his childish beliefs.

Hugo did not rise to the bait. Instead looking down at his knees. “Maybe I am,” he muttered.

Cyrus blinked. “What?” Were all those old rumors about Hugo true? He’d thought the name “Hugo the Human” was a bit too on the nose. Damn it now he had to read up on teenage monsters.

“Isn’t that what I do?” Hugo raised his face to reveal an empty smile. “Walk into a group, all smiles and friendship, and gain their trust, only to lead them right into a trap.” He placed a hand on his chest in a mockery of his own pride. “I’m Hugo the Human; I’ll smile in your face and stick a knife in your back.”

Cyrus said nothing as Hugo’s spiked shoulders slumped and his mocking smile crumbled to dust. Because what was he supposed to say? Hugo looked so fragile right now, arms pulled tight around his knees. Cyrus knew if he made the wrong move, he’d shatter.

Unbidden, Mona’s voice rose to his ears. “We dress in spikes to hide the glass beneath our skin.” She’d been cleaning the blood off his spikes when she said so, brow furrowed in concentration as he’d cried and cried for a boy who seemed to have no tears, and wanted none.

“Aren’t you going to ask me for my mission report?” Hugo’s voice was low and sad.

“Do you want to give it?” Cyrus replied. Hugo gave a strangled sob, and stuffed his fist in his mouth to stop the rest, spikes cutting into his cheek.

He took a deep breath and waited a few minutes before he choked out, “Varian wants to stay,” and promptly broke into another round of sobs.

Cyrus waited, face impassive while his mind raced with this new information. Was Varian Goggles? It seemed that way, given how broken up Hugo was. But where did Varian want to stay, and why?

He got his answer as Hugo managed to control his sobbing enough to speak again. “His family is here, he wants to stay with them, stop the quest.” Hugo looked down, a scowl on his lips. “I tried to make him see reason, make him keep going! Like the good little monster I am!” He jerked his head up to glare at Cyrus, glasses skewed on his nose.

“I thought I did it,” Hugo rubbed his eyes viciously. “He went through the trial with us and everything! But we came back and...” he broke off, swallowing hard. “He said he wanted to stay.”

Oh Hugo. Cyrus thought. Have you only now realized what he means to you? He felt like he should say something, anything, to help put the heartbreak in perspective. But he had no idea what. He’d never been the best with words. If only Mona were here.

Hugo didn’t seem to mind his silence, plowing on. “Do you know what the worst part is? The worst part is I almost want to let him. If he stays, he’ll never see what kind of monster I am. If he stays I’ll never have to do anything.” Hugo shook his head and pulled his knees close to his chest. “But even that’s stupid. Nuru and Yong will still want to go, they’ll need me to guide them, and I’ll still have to betray them. Then they’ll tell Varian, and he’ll feel even worse, knowing he trusted a monster to lead his friends.”

“Isn’t that pathetic?” Hugo looked back up at Cyrus, lips twitching back into that horrible smile. The look in his eyes is empty and dead, like his future is a tragedy he’s already read, no point in hoping for anything else and no way to stop it.

Cyrus knows that look in his eyes. He’s seen it once before.

\---------------------

Cyrus would love to say it was some second sense that told him to go back that night, that some twinge of conscience caused him to double back and double check. But that would be a lie. The only reason he came back at all was because halfway home he realized he’d forgotten his hat.

He’d briefly considered going on regardless, but Mona always got so upset when he walked all the way home without it, and he really didn’t want to add more stress on her shoulders with the increased workload the factory always saw in autumn months.

He jammed his key in the keyhole, impatient, but the whole door swung open on its hinges before he even had time to turn the key. What? He’d been so certain he’d locked it before he left. Had he really been that tired?

He pushed forward into the dim hallway, eyes blinking as they struggled to adjust to the light. The lockers were at the other end, which really was a horrible design, but hey, it was like that before he got here, and it's not like there was anything besides closets and storage rooms from here to there. Closets and storage rooms that were supposed to be empty, right?

A sound filtered to his ears, muffled thumps, coming from one of the abandoned storage rooms. A mouse probably. Cyrus gulped. Just a mouse, Hugo’s mouse, or another one of its friends. The thumps continued, and as Cyrus’s eyes grew better at seeing in the dim light, he noticed there was a faint blue glow coming from one of the closed doors. He crept forward, heart increasing with every slight creak of the boards beneath his feet.

It was probably Hugo, Heavens above, Cyrus would be glad to see him, just to confirm that the hairs standing on the back of his neck were the fault of some sadistic prank and not one of the hundreds of monsters his grandpa would whisper about at night.

He reached the door, hand hesitating above the handle, trying to remember what his grandpa had said. “Never show fear,” that was it. He grit his teeth, grabbed the handle, and threw open the door with a sharp bang.

Shouts came from inside as the door crashed against the back wall. A torch was waved in his face, making it hard for Cyrus to see. He squinted, raising a fist.

“Oh its just Cyrus!” A very familiar voice said. “Hey Cyrus!”

Cyrus blinked as he froze, fist still in the air. “Lester?”

Lester grinned at him, wide and friendly, as if he wasn’t holding a heavy club in one hand and standing over a body with two other thugs holding the figure down. Grimore stood with his back to Cyrus, facing the figure and holding something aloft in his fist.

“Cyrus!” Grimoire smiled his predatory smile as he turned to him, “Just in time! How’d you like to cash in on some of that revenge, as promised?”

“What?” Cyrus’s attention turned to the twisting figure on the ground, Hugo. But a Hugo Cyrus had never seen before, face bruised and bloody as he struggled harder against his captors. A sharp kick from one of them made him still.

“I’m on assignment Lestor!” Cyrus snapped. “I can’t just let you-”

“You’re not on company time.” Lester waved a hand. “I know the guilds code, you’re not breaking any rules if you help out. But if it really bothers you, you can just walk away. Grimoire has got it handled, and you won’t break your vows to the guild.” He shrugged.

And he was right. Cyrus hated how right he was. He wasn’t even supposed to be here. He could walk away, claim Hugo’s constant misuse of the alarms for why he didn’t notice anything, and no one would know. He looked down on Hugo's struggling form, and remembered all the hurt and harm he’d put him through as he lowered his fist back to his side.

Grimoire threw back his head and laughed, a sound the three other men echoed. Something twisted in Cyrus’s gut, but he shoved it down. “Now, for the final punishment,” Grimoire leered as he raised his fist high, the mechanical mouse struggling in his fist. “The death of the only thing he loves!”

Hugo’s face snapped up, face covered with bruises. “Bastard!” He shouted, struggling with renewed vigor. The two thugs held him firm, but he would not stop. Finally Lester brought the club down with a hearty crack on Hugo’s head, and he slumped forward, stunned.

Above him Grimoire watched Hugo’s struggle with a look of honest delight, like a cat with a mouse in its grasp. “Don’t hit him too hard boys,” he said as he nudged Hugo’s face upwards with the tip of his boot. “We want him awake enough to watch.”

Hugo’s head lolled to one side, and his eyes met Cyrus’s across the room. It was only for a second, but Cyrus felt his whole body freeze at the sight. There was no hatred in Hugo’s eyes, nor was there any pleading, only despair. His hair was out of his ponytail, framing his face and making him look younger, like the thirteen boy he was, except for the empty understanding that seemed far too old.

Cyrus looked away.

Grimoire’s fist began to tighten on the mouse, and it gave out a pathetic squeal, almost human. Grimoire’s smile widened.

“Wait,” Cyrus interrupted. All heads turned to him, all except Hugo’s who stayed on his mouse. Cyrus held out his hand. “Let me do it,” he said. “It’s my revenge.”

“Ohhhh!” Grimoire and the others growled as Grimiore turned to face him.

“All yours partner,” Grimoire said, pushing the mouse into his hands. He stepped back, hands behind his head, looking for all the world like he was its king.

The mouse in Cyrus’s hand gave a whimper, whole body shaking. As Cyrus ran a thumb over the metal gears, he could almost feel a heartbeat. With one hand, he gently dropped it into the folds of his scarf. As it bit down, he raised his other hand, bawled into a fist, and punched Grimoire in the nose.

The sharp crack of knuckle against bone echoed through the room. Lester’s mouth fell open, but Cyrus didn’t give him time to speak. He kicked upward, sinking into his gut and sending him flying into a storage shelf. He slumped down and did not rise. One of the other thugs jumped forward, fists swinging, but Cyrus spun left, knocking him off balance and landing a solid hit on the top of his head. A sharp pain in his gullet told him that the remaining thug was still there, but a sharp elbow to the neck knocked him down as well.

“Bastard,” Grimoire spat as he grabbed Cyrus into a choke hold. “We were trying to help you.” Cyrus clawed at the arms around his throat, trying to tear them off, to breath, but it was no good.

Spots began to swim in his vision as his grip slackened. Then Grimoire gave a cry and let go. Cyrus fell to his knees, gasping as Grimoire stumbled back, the mouse clamped hard on his nose. Cyrus watched as Hugo, who had been still up to that point, stretched out his arm to trip him. Grimoire fell backwards, head knocking against the vial of something very familiar.

Grimoire raised a hand to scratch his neck, and found he couldn’t remove his hand. He tried to grab his arm with his other hand, but it got stuck too. He gave a scream of rage, charging forward, but he tripped over his own thugs, and crashed down, unable to pull himself off them.

Huh, Cyrus almost smiled as he watched Grimoire struggle and curse. I can almost see why Hugo likes to use this.

The mouse jumped off Grimoire’s nose and skittered to Hugo, placing a paw on his bruised face. Cyrus turned to help him up, but Hugo flinched back.

“Stay away!” he cried out, teeth bared and shoulders tense. “This is all your fault; you’re one of them!”

Cyrus stopped, staring down at Hugo, unsure what to do next. Hugo seemed to take his silence as a threat, pulling himself to his knees to escape and instantly wincing, hand curling into his side. He glared at Cyrus, eyes like ice, but Cyrus could see the current of fear behind them.

Cyrus lifted a hand, and Hugo flinched, then pulled himself up further, lifting his chin in defiance. “I said stay away you imbecile!”

“Alive or dead?” Cyrus said.

Hugo blinked. “What?”

“Alive or Dead,” Cyrus gestured to the still struggling form of Grimoire and his unconscious minions. “You’re the boss, it’s your call.”

Hugo opened his mouth, then closed it. The mouse pressed its nose against his cheek and chittered softly. Finally Hugo spoke, voice dry and broken. “Just get them out of my sight.”

Cyrus nodded and moved to grab Grimoire’s hair, dragging him and the other thug still attached out into the street.

\---------------------

Cyrus wished he could offer something to help Hugo, just like before, something to show he was on his side against all the turmoil he was facing. But there wasn’t a physical enemy he could offer to fight, nor would Hugo be at all happy if he offered to fight Varian for breaking Hugo’s heart. He wasn’t stupid.

It would have been nice though, if fixing Hugo’s obviously broken heart were as easy as punching people until it healed. Then Cyrus could go into the therapy business and get paid way more than a thug’s meager salary. But that wasn’t the case, and so here he sat, across from Hugo, mind searching desperately for any kind of response to Hugo’s question.

Hugo hung his head, interpreting his silence as agreement with his earlier statement. Cyrus frowned, Hugo was usually so much better at reading him. Gritting his teeth, he mustered up the courage to say, “No.”

Hugo’s head snapped back up. “What?”

“No,” said Cyrus, not quite sure where he was going with this, but now he was in he might as well commit. “No you’re not pathetic for wanting people to think well of you.”

“Oh,” Hugo looked back down, at his knees, fists tightening against the fabric of his shoulders. “But it doesn’t matter really. I still can’t be with them. Not once they know the truth. No one wants to be with a monster.” He spat the last word angrily.

“You know I’m married right?” Cyrus pointed out.

“What?” Hugo blinked, “Yeah.” He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. “Mona right? She sent me a knitted hat for my birthday.”

“Exactly,” Cyrus nodded. Hugo raised an eyebrow, and oh no, Cyrus wasn’t making this clear. He tried again. “I’m a monster.”

Hugo glanced to the side, frown tugging at the corner of his mouth like it did when he didn’t quite agree. Cyrus felt warmth course through his heart. He’d no idea Hugo held such a high opinion of him. But it really wasn’t helping his case.

“I kill people for pay. That’s the definition of a monster.” He gestured to the spiked armor he wore. “But I’m married, and Mona knows exactly what I do for a living. So you can’t say people don’t want a monster, because you know that’s not true.”

Hugo rolled his eyes. Oh come on! Cyrus frowned. He’d thought that was pretty clear. What’s the problem if that’s not it?

“That’s different. The person you want isn’t the person you have to betray...” Hugo clamped his mouth shut, eyes going wide.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow, Because come on, does he really think his crush is a secret? However this proved to be the wrong move, as Hugo immediately tensed, walls rising behind his eyes. Apparently he had thought the world as oblivious as he was. Great. Now how was Cyrus going to get through to him?

“Hugo?” a voice called through the forest. “Hugo where are you?” Hugo froze, eyes darting between Cyrus and the direction of the voice. He moved subconsciously, shifting as if to shield the voice from Cyrus’s view.

Well, if that didn’t tell the whole story, Cyrus didn’t know what would. As Mona would say, “the only person foolish enough to challenge you is either an idiot, or in love.” Love, not a crush, not an attachment. How had Cyrus missed how deep this had run? And just like that, all of Hugo’s problems began to click into focus. Because either this ruins the mission and Hugo loses Donella. Or Hugo goes through with it and loses the one he loves.

“I need to go,” Hugo says, body half turned to run towards the voice already.

Cyrus nods, feeling numb as Hugo jumps to his feet. There was a heavy choice the boy had to make, with huge consequences, and no matter what, he’d lose a loved one. Still...

“Hugo,” he said before the boy vanished into the trees. He stopped, casting an alarmed glance back at Cyrus. Cyrus looked him right in the eye, and said the words he’d said to the guild master all those years ago, when he’d asked why Cyrus of all people was getting married in this economy. “There’s nothing wrong with being happy. You know that right?”

Hugo stared at him, brow furrowed like he’d said something truly bizarre. Cyrus felt his heart sink. Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say after all. “Hugo!” the voice cried, closer this time. Hugo raised his head, eyes softening as he gazed towards it. He glanced back at Cyrus once more.

“Don’t try thinking Cyrus,” he said. “That’s my job.” And then he was gone, bounding between the trees.

Cyrus sighed. He’d tried his best. Now the decision was Hugo’s. And quietly, in that forest clearing, Cyrus made his own choice. No matter what choice Hugo made. He would support it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several legends exist about Cyrus's grandpa and the monsters he defeated. Even to this day they avoid messing with Cyrus simply because of the resemblance. Not of course, that Cyrus or his grandpa are aware of this. As far as Cyrus's grandpa is concerned, the monsters in the forest these days are young whippersnappers that need to remember to respect their elders.
> 
> This chapter took longer than intended! I hope everyone enjoyed! Only one more to go.
> 
> Psst. Black Lives Matter.


	5. Letting Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hugo makes his choice and Cyrus figures its high time he met Hugo's friends.

Hugo made his choice at the edge of the dark kingdom. In typical Hugo fashion, he does so with a wink and a lie. As if Cyrus is just some rich noble he’s conning out of his money, and not someone who’s been able to see through him for years.

“It's the wrong kingdom,” Hugo says. “The trial is in the ice kingdom just that way, but I’ll lead them through this one just to keep them occupied for a bit, so there’s no need to pay too much attention.”

Cyrus wondered why Hugo always seemed to think he’s dumb. He’s not. He may not be a genius on the level of Hugo and Donella, but he’s not an idiot. He checked with Donella to gain a map of all the kingdoms involved on the quest before he left so he could pack properly. Hugo should have noticed, except he’d been too busy tapping his foot impatiently and complaining that leaving now meant now and not in an hour later.

He knows that this is not the correct place. He knows that Hugo is lying to him to try and get him to back off and not report it all back to Donella. He can see through this flimsy excuse and read Hugo’s true intentions: he’s choosing Goggles and his team over Donella.

“Ok,” he says in response. Because he’s fine with that. Really. If this is what Hugo wants, well, he’s nineteen, its high time he started thinking for himself. And besides, there was a spark in Hugo’s eyes he hadn’t seen in years, burning bright. He’s practically weightless, bouncing on his feet like a man who’d finally had the weight of the world removed from his shoulders.

Hugo turned to leave, spring in his step, and Cyrus felt his lips twitch slightly upward as he watched him go. Hugo had found happiness, and it warmed Cyrus’s soul to see.

At the edge of the clearing, Hugo stopped, head turning slightly back to Cyrus. Cyrus hastily removed any trace of emotion from his face, staring back as impassively as he could manage. Hugo hesitated. “Mona,” he said.

“Yeah?” Cyrus said, wariness leaking into his voice. Hugo never used someone’s real name unless he was about to discuss something important.

“I never thanked her,” Hugo looked down at his feet, “for the hat.”

“Oh,” Cyrus blinked. That was unexpected. Hugo had learned to say ‘thank you.’ He wondered who had taught him that. “I’ll pass on the thanks,” he offers with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Of course,” Hugo turned back to the trail ahead. “Thank you Cyrus,” he says, a finality in his words that told Cyrus he wasn’t being thanked for passing on a message. His gut twisted as he watched Hugo step forward, vanishing among the trees.

Cyrus stood in the clearing for a long while, lost in thought as the blackened leaves fell down around him. Finally he grit his teeth and released two words, “Ahh hell.”

\----------------

“It’s not that I don’t think that this is good for him. He’s happy! Happier than I’ve ever seen him! And he’s nineteen, so its damn time he went through a little teenage rebellion! It’s just-” Cyrus ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “-I just don’t know anything about these people and what they think of Hugo!” He threw up his hands in the air and looked at his audience for a reaction.

His audience, a dusty old crow that apparently didn’t know how to fly or stand properly lay on a log and gave a caw. Cyrus decided to take it as an agreement.

“Exactly! I know what Hugo thinks of them. But I also know Firecracker and Princess were suspicious before they learned to trust him, what’s to stop them from suspecting him again the next time something goes wrong? And he’s so infatuated with this Goggles, but Goggles was willing to up and abandon everyone! I can’t just leave Hugo with people like that without figuring out what they’re really like. Right?”

The crow didn’t respond in favor of pecking up in the air like he expected it to be wood. Cyrus sighed. He missed Mona. She’d know what to do. But she wasn’t here, and he didn’t have time to send her a letter and ask her for advice.

He tapped his fingers to his chin. “I need to meet Hugo’s friends, make sure they actually care about Hugo, and aren’t about to leave him dead in a ditch somewhere. It’s my job after all, as his bodyguard.”

He glanced back at the crow, who had somehow dragged itself up into a semi-upright position. “What do you think about doing a bit of improv?”

The crow gave a squawk of agreement and promptly fell off the log.

\------------------

Cyrus adjusted the bear mask more properly over his face. Perfect. The crow, for all its inability to fly in straight lines, seemed surprisingly adept at finding threatening disguises. He gave the bird a sly grin, and it proceeded to caw in the wrong direction as its eyes spun in circles.

He picked it up and put it on his shoulder. There, final touch complete. Now he looked like a madman. He’d have to take the mask off for some of the more theatrical bits, but this would make a pretty good entrance. He gripped his club, took in a deep breath, and stepped out from the trees and into the dark kingdom.

The dark kingdom was, and there was no other words for it, creepy. The soil was blackened and dark, and instead of trees large black spikes littered the land. Cyrus had thought most of them had disappeared ages ago, put apparently some roots were too thick for even magic to remove. He suppressed a shutter and strode forward with large, echoing footprints.

Hugo’s team had stopped below a slight cliff, no doubt resting after getting their old donkey down. Or was it a mule? Cyrus couldn’t be certain. Whatever it was looked like it had outlived several lifetimes worth of drama. Even now it looked up at Cyrus’s bear costume as it chewed the grass, unimpressed to the extreme.

“What is it Prometheus?” A boy said, following his gaze upwards. He was shorter than Hugo, with goggles on his head and a wizard’s staff in his left hand. Cyrus briefly wondered if this was the Goggles he’d heard so much about. The boy looked up at him, expression wary. “Are you King Edmund?”

“What?” Cyrus gaped, completely thrown off track.

“Your son mentioned your love of bear clothing,” the boy continued with a slight cough into his hand.

Cyrus turned to look at the crow in confusion. The crow began to eat one of the bear’s ears. Cyrus looked back down at the four people below him, expressions ranging from wary to hopeful. He sighed. There goes his fear factor. Looks like he’d have to start step two sooner than he thought. “I don’t know who this king is. But if you really want to know,-” he threw off the hood, causing the crow on his shoulder to shriek and take off into the air, “-I’ve been following you. You have something I need, and I’m not leaving until I get it.” He lowered his knees slightly and hunched his shoulders, gritting his teeth into his most ferocious smile.

Behind Goggles, Hugo facepalmed.

His friends tensed. The girl and the little boy drew closer to Goggles, pulling out strange glowing chemicals and...was that a giant firecracker? Well, that nickname was certainly accurate, Cyrus thought as he eyed at the boy was now most definitely Firecracker. Goggles fingered the strange balls on his sash, and narrowed his eyes at Cyrus. “We aren't giving up the totems.”

“Oh I’m not here for the totems,” Cyrus drew himself up to his full height. “I’m here for him.” He pointed a finger directly at Hugo. Hugo’s jaw went slack.

“Me?” he pointed a finger at his chest. What are you doing Cyrus? his expression said.

Hugo’s companions all glanced back at Hugo, and he quickly schooled his expression to one of neutral confusion. Princess sighed, a hand on her hips. “What did you do Hugo?” Goggles and even Firecracker looked exasperated.

“Nothing!” Hugo protested. “I don’t know this guy!”

“You don’t need to know me,” Cyrus waved his hand at Hugo’s words. “My employer knows you, and they’ll pay a pretty penny for the head of the Alchemist who screwed over the Baron Von Drake!” It was the name of a royal Hugo had screwed over for something, Cyrus couldn’t remember what. But there was no point in bringing up Donella in the likely scenario that Hugo had not mentioned her to his team after he switched sides.

Hugo’s eyebrow rose. “You mean that guy who I sold the hair potion too?”

Cyrus held back a snort of laughter, disguising it as a cough. Oh it was that guy, heavens above that had been hilarious. Concentrate Cyrus, sad things, dead cats, hunger. He gave his best frown. “Yes, and he wants you dead for it.”

“For hair?” Goggles exclaimed.

Cyrus shrugged. “You know nobles, ruthless over the stupidest things.” Princess gave the slightest flinch, and Hugo’s brow furrowed. “But look,” Cyrus added, desperate to bring this back on track. “I’m a reasonable man. Just give me the criminal, and no one else has to get hurt.”

The three looked at each other. “Yeah, I don’t think so,” Goggles said as he drew back his arm, a ball in his hand. “But thanks for being so polite about it.”

Cyrus made no move to dodge the ball as it fell, releasing a sticky substance that coated his feet. The crow landed beside it and began to peck, but to no avail.

“It should wear off in a few hours,” Goggles said, turning away. “Bye,”

Cyrus smiled. Straining his legs he kicked out, sending the hardened purple crumbling all around him. The crow gave a cry and flew off. The three children below gasped and drew back. Even Hugo, who was fully aware of exactly how strong Cyrus was, looked a little impressed. Cyrus wasn’t certain why though, an antidote to the purple goo had been the first thing Hugo had brewed, did he think Donella had asked for that purely for research purposes? Cyrus had coated nearly a whole bottle’s worth on his boots for this very attack.

But whatever the reason, the surprise worked in his favor, and Cyrus was not going to waist it. He jumped down the cliff like it was nothing, this one was completely on him he was pleased to admit, and charged straight at Hugo.

“What are you doing?” Hugo hissed as he ducked under Cyrus’s punch.

“Helping,” Cyrus hissed back as he ducked under a brightly colored ball. “Play along.” Hugo did not look at all convinced as Cyrus landed a solid kick and sent Hugo flying backwards.

Ooof. He thought as Hugo landed hard on his butt, gasping for breath. He hadn’t meant to kick him that hard. He tried not to wince as he slowed himself to a threatening walk.

“Stay away from him!” Goggles threw himself forward at Cyrus, clawing at his sides. Cyrus peeled him off easily, wondering why someone so smart would attack with his hands. He was quickly answered when something strange and green started to grow on his armor, no doubt another attempt to make him stop. Too bad Donella had Hugo-proofed this armor long ago to make their team ups go smoother, and if the smell of this was anything to go by, Hugo had definitely helped in its creation.

“That ain’t gonna work on me kid,” he said as he tossed Goggles back at Hugo. Hugo stretched out his arms to catch him, but ended up falling back, winded a second time. Goggles struggled to sit up, but ultimately fell back on Hugo, dazed.

“Leave him alone!” Princess jumped in Cyrus’s path. She raised a hand to her chest. “If it's money you are after, I am Princess Nuru of the Air Kingdom. I can easily settle any debit my companion has created.”

Appealing to his character’s obvious greed? Not a bad move. Except for how she exposed herself as an even more appealing target. Seriously, had Hugo taught her nothing about survival. Not that it mattered, he wasn’t here to kidnap princesses. “It doesn't work like that little lady,” Cyrus shrugged. “I have a code.” He stepped forward, and Princess spread her arms defensively. Cyrus rolled his eyes. “And what are you going to do to stop me little lady? You aren’t even armed.”

Princess’s lips twitched upwards, and too late Cyrus realized he hadn’t been paying attention to Firecracker. He whirled around, only to catch a glimpse of a giant firecracker coming straight towards him. He ducked, the firecracker grazing his back. A flash of victory filled Cyrus, and then numb shock as he was pulled along into the air.

Cyrus realized where he had smelled that stench before as he flew through the air. Hugo’s sticking powder. They’d turned it into goo! Well, Cyrus would be damned if that wasn’t impressive. He cast one more glance back at the little group. Varian was still struggling to unattach himself from the goo that held him to Hugo. Princess was kneeling beside them, giggling. Yong held a firecracker up, clearly offering to blow them free, and from Hugo’s expression, half horrified, and half amused, it looked like they didn’t have another one. But even with the growing fear in his eyes as the pyromaniac began lighting the firecrackers, Cyrus could tell he was completely happy. They’d take good care of him.

He smiled as the firecracker exploded behind him, sending him scorched and flying into the open air.

\------------

“What were you thinking?” Hugo demanded as he found him hours later, sitting on a log as he tried to recover from being blown out of the sky.

“I told you,” Cyrus pressed a cooling paste to his burned skin and silently thanked alchemy’s healing wonders. “I’m helping.”

“Helping? Helping? You call that helping?!” Hugo threw his hands into the air. “You attacked us! You nearly blew my cover!” He leaned down to get in Cyrus’s face, emerald eyes blazing with fury.

Cyrus stared back, unimpressed. “I didn’t put your cover in any kind of danger. I didn’t mention we knew each other, or Donella at all.”

“You didn’t have too!” Hugo shoved a finger in Cyrus’s chest. “I go to talk to you every other week! If one of them follows me and sees us together, it’s all over!” He punctuated the last line by pushing his finger deeper into Cyrus’s chest.

“Well then,” Cyrus shrugged and batted Hugo’s hand away. “I guess I’ll have to go back to Donella, tell her how I blew it, and how you can’t make reports anymore without me so there's no point in waiting for them.”

“Wh-what?” Hugo stepped back, eyes wide. “That means...” he shook his head, “No. No that will never work. The next kingdom is the iron kingdom, and Donella’s going to make a move for sure. Once they see you with her...”

“Then they will think she employed someone who has both openly admitted to not knowing you, and holds a personal grudge.” Cyrus crossed his arms and smiled. “Even if she completely outs you as a spy, they’ll never believe you wouldn’t have met a colleague as old as me, much less let me attack you for no reason. It will just look like we’re trying to smear you.”

“That is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard,” Hugo scowled. “It has so many holes it would sink like a stone in water.”

“Perhaps,” Cyrus rose to his feet. “But it's done now. So you’ll just have to continue on this quest, without any supervision or anyone to stop you if you decide to stick with them.” He began to limp over to grab his stuff.

“Oh,” Hugo’s eyes went wide. He opened his mouth, then shut it again. Finally he got out. “Cyrus...”

The bushes began to rustle, and Cyrus jolted upright, body moving to block Hugo from view. “Leave,” he hissed. Hugo didn’t need telling twice, scrambling back into the foliage back towards his friends. He did not look back.

The rustling stopped as the crow jumped out. Cyrus let his shoulders relax as it cocked it head sideways to stare up at him with one eye while the other one spun in circles. “There you are, you coward,” he sighed. “You left me all by myself back there.”

The crow gave a sharp caw, and began to peck at the open air. Cyrus sighed as he sat back down. “It's over now,” he told the bird. “I’ll head back to Donella and tell her I messed up while Hugo stays here with his friends.”

The crow stared at him, it's usually mobile eyes stopping to pin him into place. Cyrus felt a shiver run down his back at the intelligence hidden deep inside them.

“Odin’s eyes,” his grandpa’s voice whispered in his ears. “Whatever the crow sees the king of the dark sees too.”

Cyrus shook his head to clear it of the fear. “Oh don’t look at me like that,” he told the crow. “You don’t know what’s like to raise a son. Sometimes staying with you just isn’t good for them.”

A strange, animalistic sympathy flashed across the crow’s bulging eyes. Then it bowed its head and began pecking at a rock on the ground, missing every now and then to hit the open air. All its intelligence seemed to vanish as if it had been nothing but Cyrus’s imagination.

Cyrus watched it peck away, mind still on Hugo and his friends. It was good that they cared about Hugo. He wasn’t sure what he’d have done if they didn’t. But they had been willing to face Cyrus for Hugo, so they were all right in Cyrus’s book. Kinda small though. He briefly wondered if he should follow after them regardless, just to make sure they stayed alive. But no. They’d made short work of him, they would be fine.

Hugo would be fine. He was an adult now. Making his own friends and his own decisions. He didn’t need Cyrus to take out the trash anymore.

\--------------

The alley behind the bar had been dark, but that was to Cyrus’s advantage, deep shadows hiding even his large form. Not that he needed surprise. His target wasn’t exactly in the best fighting shape. It was far from sporting, but as every thug in the guild could tell you, sporting wasn’t a thug’s job. Especially for people like this. Cyrus pulled his lips into a sharp smile.

Grimoire stepped into the alleyway, two friends at his side. Smart of him to have lackeys with him, but alas, still not enough. Cyrus darted forward, slamming a fist to the lackey on the left. Grimoire ducks, but Cyrus keeps his fist going, knocking the first lackey’s head into the second’s and sending them both crumbling to the ground. Good. He didn’t recognize them from earlier, so it was best to leave them out of this.

Grimoire scowled at him, already aware of what was coming. “Didn’t you tell the brat you’d leave me alive?” he mocked as he pulled out a knife and dropped into a waiting stance.

Cyrus didn’t bother to respond. Grimoire lunged with his knife at Cyrus’s stomach, but Cyrus sidestepped, catching the blade in one hand and twisting Grimoire’s wrist with the other. A single, well placed blow was all it took, and the man slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Cyrus took the knife and quietly finished him off. It was quick and painless, far better than he deserved. But Cyrus wasn’t the type to relish in cruelty when efficiency was an option. Task done, he turned on his heel, a strange satisfaction filled his stomach as he left the body to rot in the back alley.

There would be no consequences for this crime, Cyrus knew. There was no guild to protect Grimoire. And besides, there was a certain understanding on the streets about those who hurt children, even ones as annoying as Hugo. Even if everyone knew who killed Grimoire, no one was going to say anything. Sometimes it was better to let thugs be thugs.

Hugo never talked to Cyrus about Grimoire, but Cyrus could see a weight on his shoulders lift as news traveled around the underground that he was dead, killed in some back alley robbery. He didn’t seem to care to look any further into the flimsy details, like how nothing of Grimoire’s had been taken. Cyrus in turn never offered up any information of his own involvement.

Donella never said anything either. But the next day she quietly called Cyrus into her office and told him his probationary period was up, and he was now a full employee. It might have been a coincidence, but Cyrus had a feeling that the old bat knew far more than she was telling. Not that it much mattered. What was done was done.

\---------------

The crow let out a sharp caw, startling Cyrus out of his dark thoughts. He shook his head and focused on the strange bird, who was now perched beside him one the log, somehow upside down.

“Guess I best be going,” he said as he rose to his feet. He gave the odd bird a two fingered salute. “It's been an honor to serve with you, my weird friend, but I’ve got to get home to my wife.” The bird raised a wing as if to give a salute back, and began absently nibbling on his own feathers.

Cyrus felt his lips twitch into a smile as he turned his face towards the setting sun, and home. He hoped Mona was making her famous stew. He’d send her a letter as soon as he ran into a town, and let her know to have some ready when he got back. He’d have quite the story to tell her over it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm aware that king of the dark is not a title of Odin's. But King Edmund constantly has his crow spy on his son which is quite like Odin's own birds. It makes sense that a story like that would mix a bit with another legend when it crossed kingdom borders.
> 
> And that brings us to the end of this fic. Thank you all so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi chapter fic for this fandom! Hope everyone enjoys!


End file.
